By Raphael Ekpang
As Nigerian workers joined their counterparts all over the globe to mark the 2023 International Workers Day, the Academic Staff Union of Research Institutions (ASURI) has appealed to the outgoing president, Muhammadu Buhari to assent the National Research and Innovation Council bill currently with the house of reps before his ext on May 29.
While marking this year workers Day event in Abuja, the general secretary of ASURI Prof. Theophilus Ndubuaku said, assenting to the NRIC Bill will be lasting legacy of outgoing President Buhari, adding that if signed to law Buhari would have written his name in gold.
According to him, “NRIC is the vital funding component of the federal government approved National Policy on Science, Technology and Innovation (NPSTI) which was initiated since the 1960s as much-needed institutionalized funding mechanism for research.
“While inaugurating the present Governing Council of NRIC on January 7, 2016 barely six months after assuming office, President Buhari in his capacity as the statutory chairman of NRIC, expressed hope that with the council, Nigeria would start producing Noble Laureates. The council has been meeting regularly but without legal back up,” he said
Prof. Ndubuaku noted further that research is the bedrock of scientific and technological development, and developed nations embrace and fund research adequately.
He stressed that neglect of research by successive administrations in Nigeria is responsible for the comatose state of the nation’s mandate Research and Development Institutes and the present socio-economic woes we are facing currently.
